October 31, 2023, Halloween, Tuesday night, 9:29pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Went to our friends house in San Juan Capistrano for a Halloween get together. The holiday falling on Tuesday dampened enthusiasm some what. We ate pizza and candy before starting a game of Clue. Before long constant trick-or-treaters forced the girls to sit outside and distribute candy. The parents ended up sitting at the table just talking about life, retirement and jobs. It was a fairly somber evening ti tell the truth. We didn’t walk around the neighborhood like I had hoped. I guess the girls are officially too old for trick-or-treating.

October 30, 2023, Monday night 6:50pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Today was a rare Monday at home. For the past three years I have spent most weekdays in Phoenix or on the road. It is nice to be home but I don’t want it to become a regular thing. I like my work life and my home life separate. That way I am focused on being a good employee during the week and a good dad on weekends. Today is the 14 year anniversary of my last day as a chaplain. I would have missed that fact if I hadn’t gone back and read posts from last year. So much has changed since then, lots of Utah memories surfaced today, most of them good. Finally, The infection I have been dealing with the past four weeks hasn’t gotten better. I have seen three doctors and completed three rounds of antibiotics yet nothing has worked. I am starting to get frustrated. Not sure what to do next. It seems like such a minor problem but no tests have diagnosed the issue and no treatments have resolved it. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day. The doctors office called and left a message wondering how I am doing. I will call them and see if they recommend any other treatments.

October 29, 2023, Sunday evening, 5:59pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Had a good nights sleep, ended up staying in bed until 6am before going for a walk and workout. My daughter didn’t reach out until eleven so I finished laundry by noon. She and I ran errands and killed time at the mall today. She bought a figurine and pants while we were there. I returned an item at the sporting goods store and picked out a pair of jogging pants that need to be returned. They are light colored and the front pretty fits snug. So they are a little revealing, if you know what I mean. I left Aliso Viejo at 5pm and came home ti call mom. She told me about her visit with my niece and all the adventures they had. Sounds like a good weekend for everyone. Now I am in bed reading the Nick Offerman book I picked up yesterday.

October 28, 2023, Saturday night, 9:44pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Went to see the new Five Nights at Freddy’s movie at Cinepolis in Laguna Niguel tonight. The movie was alright. Regardless, it was nice to spend time with my daughter, her mom and our friend. Earlier this afternoon we went to the Spirit Halloween Store. We bought a hockey mask for her costume and a long sleeve t-shirt. I decided on a NASA jump suit for my costume. Later, we went to the book store and bought two books each. She got manga, I got Nick Offerman and Tom Segura books. Then we walked to the dollar store to get candy for the movie. After dropping everything off at the car we walked to the grocery store to buy a drink called Prime. It is syrupy sweet and loaded with caffeine. We took a sip each and threw the rest away. After that we went to the UPS store to return some hockey masks that were purchased for Halloween but didn’t fit right. Then we went to CVS to buy surgical masks for her mom and finally stopped by the Hamburger Habit for dinner. On top of all that I went to workout this morning and visited the urgent care in Irvine. It was a busy day. The good news is I think we finally found a way to treat the infection I have been dealing with for four weeks. I hope so. I am tired of lab work, antibiotics and doctors visits. Time to feel healthy and get on with life.

October 27, 2023, Friday afternoon, 3:52pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Woke up at 3:30am, worked out, then drove back to Orange County from Palm Desert. Attended virtual meetings the rest of the morning, picked my daughter up from school early, grabbed a hamburger for lunch before taking her home then I came back to Dana Point to nap. I have been low key and grouchy all day. No particular reason. Tonight we are going to see a friend’s theater production in San Juan Capistrano. After that the weekend starts. Not sure what is planned for tomorrow.

October 26, 2023, Thursday evening, 6:57pm, pacific standard time, hotel room in Palm Desert, California,USA. It feels like my priorities are shifting. I don’t follow sports like I used to. I didn’t even realize the Arizona Diamondbacks made it to the World Series until a friend mentioned it. Normally, I am up to date on things like that. I also don’t obsess over vices like I used to. However, certain desires are more pronounced on weekends, so time will tell if that has truly changed. The key is not only eradicating unproductive behavior but funding an alternative replacement.

October 24-25, Tuesday/Wednesday, 6:00pm, Wednesday evening, hotel room in Palm Desert, California,USA. Drove out to Palm Desert yesterday afternoon in time to host my weekly area call. After that I answered emails and went grocery shopping. Then this morning I went to the Halloween/staff party in Palm Desert before driving to attend the same event at the San Bernardino branch. I am really enjoying no longer being a branch director. I don’t have to go in early, stay late or worry about the day to day operations of a single site. This gives me opportunity to deal with macro issues and effect more change.

October 22-23, 2023, Sunday and Monday, 7:43pm, pacific standard time, Monday night, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Sunday was good. Got up early, finished some work stuff, then went to the gym before taking my daughter to Dunkin Donuts. At noon I returned to Dana Point and did laundry. Later, I went for a walk up the Dana Point Hills and texted my boss to ask for a PTO day. I needed time off to go to Knott’s Berry Farm. That is what we did today. We had a great time, very low key. The park was not crowded and we got on rides easily. After the park closed we picked up Del Taco in Anaheim and headed home. We both are tired but had a great day.

October 21, 2023, Saturday night, 7:51pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Today is the 19th anniversary of what the WIL (woman I love) and I considered our anniversary. I haven’t seen her for four years so it is anticlimactic. In that time I have met and dated other women but not sure if anything serious will come from it. I gave all I am to that relationship. Companionship is nice, and necessary but I doubt I will ever fully fall in “love” again.

October 20, 2023, Friday night, 11:21pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Drove back from Palm Desert this morning, finished up some work then went with my daughter and her mom to Descanso Gardens in La Canada. It was fun to walk around and see the in-laws. We hadn’t seen each other since Christmas. I am going to read a little then fall asleep.